Silent Empathy
by ChelseaSienaJosephineCassandra
Summary: She was alone, blocked off from any true contact with the world. Her family murdered, the creature responsible erased by time. Yet, she remembers every single detail from that time, and she will find a way to re-introduce herself back into the world, in the form of her only support- a surly black hedgehog.
1. A Clean Slate

Chapter 1- The Clean Slate

I stood on the edge of a cliff face, deciding whether to jump or not. Nothing was keeping me here anymore, apart from the fear that death would make things worse. I couldn't imagine how it could get worse though. I was alone, taken away from anyone who could help. I could never explain.

He had made sure I would suffer.

When I lost my family to his sick form of entertainment.

When he slowly and painfully silenced me forever.

And now, I had no way to get back at him, because he simply disappeared. Everything just faded away and time seemed to have reset without him. No way of revenge. No way to stop the agony tearing at me, physically and mentally.

I sat down, swinging my legs as if I was on a park bench. There were a few rocks on the bottom of the cliff, some sharp ones I could stab myself on, some flat ones that would break my bones, but I was looking for a good rock that would kill me straight away rather than injure me and take a long time to finish me off. There wasn't much choice, and I felt as if there should have been more rocks to choose from.

He probably would have laughed, seeing me browsing for death like it was a supermarket. I didn't want to die back then. I screamed at him to leave me alone.

But I could scream back then. He had been so careful, cutting my neck but still keeping me alive. One slip and he could have slit my throat, but he handled his claws with skill, and shredded my vocal chords. I couldn't scream any more. It hurt to even breathe. I couldn't communicate with anyone, and everyone I loved had already been killed before.

My eyes fell upon just the right rock. It was blunt in some places and jagged in others, perfect for ending everything. I would have never thought it would come to this, but such is the way of change. I had gone from an innocent little girl with a loving family to a street-beaten, heart-shattered girl all alone because of him. I wasn't going to stand it any more.

I took a deep breath, psyching myself for what was ahead. I hoped that heaven was nice.

Then again, I hadn't done anything heroic and good. I never had a chance to, I was still a kid. I was going to be seven in two months- hardly the amount of lifetime to go and save a princess or something.

I hesitated.

I wasn't going to end my life if it was only going to make it worse.

I had to do something good! I turned away from the cliff. When the time came, I would be back as a better person, but that was the only tie with this world I would make. I wouldn't open up to anyone.

I made my way into Station Square, adjusting my hat to cover my ears. Or rather distracting from my lack of human ears and flattening down my cat ears to avoid attention. A big puffy hat did the job well. It was annoying that I was short, but I was just happy my eyes were only a little bigger than they were supposed to be. I had learned to keep my tail under control too.

I was a hybrid. The result of having parents of two different species. It was odd to have parents of two different Mobian races, but it did happen. I've seen hedgebats and foxrabbits, but humans and Mobians were not different races. They were different species altogether, and having children in a relationship such as that was taboo. That never stopped my parents, and not just once. I was once the youngest of three.

Trying not to bring painful memories back, I wandered aimlessly through the Central Square, mentally scanning the crowd for any evil auras, but it was impossible with so many people crowding around me. It was an ability I had gotten from my father, who was a forensic detective in his day. He could read people's auras to get a basic idea of how good or bad someone was, and he would get a picture in his head of the murder if he touched the weapon or something related. Sometimes he would come home clutching his head if the image was too strong. Then he would need to recover. My father was the human.

My mother, however, had the same thing but looking ahead. That's how my mother and father met, partnered in work. Once the murder weapon had been found, my father would know the method of death and parts of the identity, then my mother would predict the next victim and get there first. They were famous for that.

I sighed. Once I was feeling down, thoughts just attacked me in a negative spiral and it was impossible to stop thinking about anything else. I guess it was just a subject that never left, my family. It was still hard knowing that I wouldn't ever see them again. Then again, I wasn't even aware of the true evil of the world before that day.

I wasn't getting anywhere by searching the crowd. Everyone here apparently led a boring life, so I headed into the darker parts of town. Here the streets were poorly lit and full of trash. I stayed in the shadows of the alleyways, as I was getting echoes as I ran my hands along the walls. Many people had died here as the result of getting mugged, or simply attacked out of rage and spite. That meant someone here had to be stopped. I carefully drew out the knife I had formed out of scrap metal as I saw a Mobian wolf ahead, then identified him. He was definitely someone who needed to go.

Due to my silent nature, I had learned to move silently as well. I crept out of the alley and into the main street. Luckily, the place was abandoned, so I snuck up on him, preparing myself for what was to come.

I remembered the way that everyone was finished off, just a quick slit throat and it would all be over.

I read his aura closer, analysing him as a person. He was poor, like most of the people in the district, and he robbed people because he couldn't pay for food. At this new information, I faltered.

Was it wrong to kill someone who had murdered to survive? I would stop other people from dying, but I would also end a life that had no choice. Was it right to take one life to save another?

I shouldnt have looked so deeply, because he sensed my gaze, and turned around, getting eye contact. We stared each other down for a moment before his eyes drifted to my knife. He then brought out his own knife in defence, and to stop him from hurting me I loosened my grip on my blade, letting it clatter to the ground, then raising my hands in surrender, relaxing.

"That was stupid. Now you're defenceless." His tone was smug. In shock I locked eyes with him fully and picked up on a big detail I hadn't seen.

Although he had no choice, he enjoyed what he did anyway. I was so out of practice I hadn't seen.

My eyes widened and I went to pick up the knife again, but hands grabbed my wrists and I felt the point of a blade dig into my back. I had been ambushed, and I got angry at myself for not getting rid of him when I had the chance.

"Alright, now what's a young human like you doing in such a rough town, armed?" He asked.

I, of course, stayed silent. What else could I do? I didn't know sign language, and I doubted that they would either, and even so I _couldn't_ move my arms because they were being held!

"I'm not one of those people who can mind read. Speak up."

"I don't think she's going to. Too scared or something. Look, she's shaking!" I heard a voice call from behind me, the person holding the knife.

I was _actually_ shaking in frustrated rage, but he wouldn't know. I looked scared no matter what happened.

"I'll give you a chance to walk away from this alive if you just tell us why you were pointing a knife at me. Speak up, kid, before things get nasty." He growled.

I got frustrated. Really, really frustrated. I had literally put myself in the world for ten minutes and already I was going to be killed because of my useless vocal chords. I started tearing up and gave him the most pleading look possible. A small flicker of fear came over his face, and he quickly covered it up.

"In a way, I'm kinda glad you showed up. That way we can show you just how much of a team we are, right guys?"

"Sure, boss."

"All in this together."

"Exactly. I'm definitely not alone here!" He finished, his voice wavering as he glanced at me again. I had that affect on people. Because my aura powers were first activated when I had just lost my family, any reading would cause the subject to feel extremely lonely.

"Time's up, kid. Now now, don't give me that look, I was gonna go easy on you. It's your fault you didn't speak up."

"Kid must have been too scared. " The accomplice repeated.

"Scared or not, she stepped on our turf and saw things she wasn't supposed to see. And if she ain't gonna talk, we'll hear her scream instead. Start making little stripes on her arms, little red stripes... Oh, and do it slowly- what the!?" He exclaimed, as a gold trail rushed by us at high speed. One of the grips loosened with a jolt, and the others yelled in shock. One by one in the chaos and the rush of the wind, the hands went limp, until I could shake myself free.

"You little bitch! This is all your fault!"

The wolf went to grab me and I jumped out of the way, my heart pounding. The mysterious force had disappeared, and I was once again in the line of danger.

"That whole 'lonely' thing, that was a prediction, right!? My mates are completely beaten up and they might die now!" I noticed his speech was becoming sharp and quick, and I knew he was about to attack. He drew back his fist and I ducked as he swung a punch over my head, putting him off balance. He swiped at me again and I dodged each blow narrowly, then I pushed him away from me and he fell over. I took this opportunity to leave, but he tripped me up as I turned to run.

"I don't think so... " I heard him growl, a hand clamping around my ankle and a sharp point touching a tendon at the back.

"You feel that? That's your Achilles' tendon. One little slip with this knife, and say goodbye to walking. You'd better do exactly as I say if you don't want me to put you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life."

I froze, not knowing what to do. I couldn't possibly lose my ability to walk as well. I would just go straight back to the rocks and forget about the good deeds.

"Right, I want you to get up very slowly. No sudden moves."

I complied with his orders, reluctantly accepting his leadership over me. I had read that he had a short temper and matched with that knife the first move would mean suffering. I knew he would do everything slowly and painfully, and even though he didn't posess the experience of a torturer such as Mephiles, this Mobian was still proficient at his craft.

"Now, you're going to take all of my mates and carry them back to my hideout. After you're so tired you can't struggle, you can wait for them to wake up and then you'll let them do whatever they want to you." He finished with a disturbing smile.

I took a step back from him. I didn't understand what he was talking about, but l got a really bad feeling. He took a few steps closer, losing his smile, and flicking out a different knife.

My sensitive hearing picked up on the rushing wind again, and I put as much distance between me and the wolf as possible.

A bolt of light flew at the wolf and hit him straight in the chest. Waves of sparks tremored off of him, and he staggered. He lunged at me one last time, his blade nearly reaching my neck, before something grabbed my wrist and the world flashed, as reality was wrenched away in a dizzying mess.

That was the first event of my new life.


	2. Unrelenting Patience

Chapter 2- Unrelenting Patience

I felt myself fall onto hard pavement, the grip on my wrist loosening before being shaken off altogether as I dizzily fell over.

For a moment, everything was silent. My eyes were squeezed shut and I hyperventilated in shock despite the protests of my throat at such harsh use. I eventually quieted and my breathing returned to to it's normal near-silent constraints, and the pain stopped. I still kept my eyes closed, hoping whoever had saved me would just leave. I didn't want to become indebted to them.

I felt something touch my wrist with two fingers, measuring my pulse. By the way I had reverted back to silence, I guessed that the person had thought I might have died of shock. Disliking this touch, I pulled my hand away from the person and curled up, just wanting them to go away. I had already pushed myself too far today and I couldn't risk any more panic.  
The more panic and stress I went through, the harder I would breathe. If this happened too badly, the scars on my neck would open up again and I would bleed to death, so I had to limit myself on contact to the world. A lot of things scared me because of what he had done to me.

"Hmph." Was all my rescuer said, in a disturbingly familiar tone, before I heard footsteps retreating. That voice... I had to see who owned it. It couldn't be him.

I opened my eyes, and my heart stopped.

I thought he had disappeared. I thought the hell was over, yet his image was burned into my mind, and the resemblance...

A black hedgehog. Metallic, advanced shoes. Rings around the wrists. Blown back quills that swept upwards. Deep voice. And a disregard for life. I didn't care if his highlights were now red, and his rings were gold, there was no possible way another individual with such uncanny resemblance could exist.

It was him. Mephiles the Dark.

I had to get away from that demonic hedgehog. My heart returning with pounding vengeance, I scrambled back until I hit a dustbin and tried to relax my breathing before I hurt myself.

Apon hearing the clatter of my impact, he turned quickly and analysed me with blood red eyes.

I was getting really confused now. This hedgehog, although with a nearly identical resemblance to Mephiles, had completely normal Mobian eyes. No slit pupils. And as I watched him, I noticed something else important in his appearance, a deepening frown. This hedgehog had a mouth, like a normal Mobian would. Finally fed up with the confusion, I gazed into his eyes, pleading him to tell me what was going on.

And I got _nothing._

I couldn't read him. As soon as our eyes locked, his eyes widened in shock before turning to a harsh stare-off. He knew how to block me out, and the only aura I could see was restricted, only letting me know he wasn't the Mephiles I feared. No name came to me, nor any morality standing. He was closed away from my sight.

I gazed deeper, pressuring the mental block, but it didn't budge. In fact, it got even stronger and I broke eye contact to avoid a backfire.

The hedgehog gave me one last glare, then turned and left.

He didn't question me at all, he just left. But I wasn't through with him. I was going to find out who this hedgehog was.

I followed him through the streets.

It was very difficult keeping up with him. He would charge on, then grind to a halt and look around him. Either he was lost or he was looking for something. A few times I wouldn't be able to hide in time and we would have another stare down, but he always broke the contact first, and with an annoyed growl he would carry on his business.

Suddenly, with a final glance, he tensed and disappeared in a flash. I quickly made my way to the spot and examined it, but he was completely gone. There was no trace he had ever been there. I gave a small sigh and sat down, trying to figure out what to do next. The place was abandoned, and apart from me and that strange hedgehog, there was no one here. Literally, I had been sending out aura searches and no one was here for one hundred metres around me.

My concentration broken, I curled up again, tracing pictures into the dry dirt. Usually I just drew circles, but occasionally a few words would pop up. I would literally download my mind onto the ground to relax and waste time. I wasn't going to go anywhere in case the hedgehog returned.

It had been quite a while until I heard a thump a while off. Sending out another search, I knew the hedgehog had returned, and was approaching at a fast rate.

"You're still here?" I heard him groan from behind me. His voice was deep too, but instead of being bone-chilling it was just as dark and mysterious as his identity. I turned to see him come out of an alleyway, eyebrows furrowed in an annoyed glare. He waited for my response, after a long pause giving a gesture as if giving permission for me to talk.

After a few minutes of silence he groaned and turned to walk away, and I got to my feet, dusting myself off. He glanced back at hearing my actions, and glared at me again. I wasn't scared of him, his eyes held no fear for me.

"Stop following me, human." He ordered, then started walking. I allowed him to get a fair distance away from me before I took a step in pursuit.

"I said, stop following me." He clarified as soon as he heard the step. He then continued, but stopped as he heard each step, tensing slightly. Our actions repeated, each time he would tense a little more, and he started showing signs of anger, grinding his teeth together or growling slightly. It took about four minutes of this constant following game until the hedgehog clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles as an obvious passive-agressive stance

"Why are you following me!?" He snapped, finally losing his wall of indifference. I jumped back as he teleported right in front of me, but didn't answer. I just put my hands behind my back and looked at the ground.

"Hey! Answer me!" He yelled.

I took a step back, intimidated. Despite me being mostly human, this Mobian hedgehog was still taller than me. Of course, the resemblance scared me more than anything, but there was no possible way this was Mephiles. Otherwise I would be dead already.

"Quit wasting my time, human! If you don't talk, I'll make you!" He threatened. I rolled my eyes in exasperation at the threat, scuffing at the dirt until I realised that was my language barrier solution, my Rosetta Stone. I wrote in the dirt:

MUTE

After reading this, the hedgehog facepalmed.

"Why didn't you say so?" He groaned.

I raised an eyebrow accusingly.

"It's a figure of speech! What did you want me to say? 'Why didn't you write that in the dirt earlier'?"

Nod.

"That doesn't exactly flow into normal speech."

Shrug.

I then gave him a look and a gesture that mirrored his earlier one of giving permission to talk.

"Okay, I can take a hint. Firstly, why were you in that part of town alone?"

I thought for a moment before I wrote, PATROL.

"That's not a reason why you were at the mercy of a gang of muggers, if you truly knew the area."

I responded with another shrug, trying to drop the subject.

"Gah! Never mind! Why did you freak out so much when you saw me?"

I hesitated. I couldn't explain word for word, and yet I wanted to do more than just brush the matter off indifferently. I looked at him, then looked away, not knowing what to signal to him. He responded to this with an annoyed sigh.

"Let me guess... You mistook me for someone else..." He sounded incredibly bored, as if it was something he had experienced before.

"Oh, and by the way, that aura reading you tried on me? Not appreciated."

I shot him a shocked glance before it turned to apology, looking down again.

"You're really annoying me. Why did you wait so long for me and follow me around like some stupid dog?"

I was very offended at that comment. I was a_ cat_, not some mongrel fleabag.

LINK.

"What do you mean? That doesn't make any sense."

I quickly covered that word, and thought before I wrote:

ANSWERS

"Do you have to make everything so cryptic? So, I'm guessing what you're trying to say- I mean communicate- is that when you saw me you thought I was someone else, and so you followed me wondering what I have in common with this guy."

After hearing this explanation, my mouth dropped open for a moment, until I applauded him.

"There's no need for that, human. I've been trained to pick up on things most people wouldn't. And I prefer to only use words when absolutely necessary." He finished, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm only talking here because I'm the only one who can. Didn't you notice my lack of speech before I knew you were mute?"

I made an Oh shape with my mouth..

"Fine. Anyway, I'm not the person to escort around a kid all day just because she can't stand up for herself. Find someone elsewhere who actually cares for your well being."

With this he turned to walk away, but I, with nothing else to be able to do, grabbed his shoulder. He responded by doing some complicated combat maneuver that ended up with me hitting the dirt face first and my hands pinned behind my back.

"Don't. Touch. Me." He snarled.

In desperation, I struggled to get him off whilst calming my breath, but the hedgehog had an iron grip. I then tried a trick that I always used on my brother during one of his tackle games. I lay still for a while, then shook violently as soon as his grip loosened. I still couldn't get him off me.

"Okay. I'm going to let go and walk away, and you're not going to follow me. Understand?"

I understood his words, but I was desperate to know about him. I couldn't die now that there was such a huge mystery to solve, not to mention someone who seemed so close to other timelines, the one where I belonged.

I shook my head.

"You don't understand? Oh, for the love of Chaos... Don't follow me!" With this he released his grip on me and rushed away. In the last glimpse of him I saw that his shoes had jets of flame bursting out, propelling him away from me at a speed I would never be able to match.

I was going to wait for him to come back. I wasn't going to let him leave without even giving me a name to put to his face. He came back before...

I was in for a long wait. In fact, a very, very long wait. I wasn't going to fall asleep and I didn't eat or drink. It was another thing that came along with my perpetual injury- I found drinking painful and eating even more painful, so I only ate when I felt it was necessary for survival.

The dirt around me was soon covered in etchings, detailed drawings of objects. Part of these were small items, a camera, a pen, even a random packet of gummy bears were part of the sketches. I had spent a lot of time practicing, and so the dirt was all I needed to pass the time.

That time was three long, hot, lonely days of hunger. I kept my eyes open despite the dust that blew into my face whenever the wind picked up. I sat patiently, scanning the horizon for any flashes of light, ears twitching every direction to listen for the tiny zap noise that signalled the approach of the hedgehog, but the hours were drawn out, mocking me with the lack of the hedgehog's presence.

After that, I collapsed, my mouth dry and my vision foggy. I sent out one last aura search before I passed out.

He was coming.

With a smile, I let the embrace of darkness take me over.


	3. Backtracking and Reluctance

Chapter 3-Backtracking and Reluctance

It was a silence that first came to me. Instead of far-off cars and shouts, there was nothing. It was a comfortable silence, muffled by soft surroundings.

I slowly became aware of the situation as I deduced where I was. I was no longer in the street, and instead I laid on a comfortable bed. I questioned for a moment if I was dreaming, but the rhythmic throbbing and stinging of my neck as I breathed was a constant reminder of reality.

In that case, why was I here? Could the hedgehog have possibly...

Not wanting to intrude, I quickly hopped off of the bed and then smoothed out the sheets as much as possible to minimise the impact I had made on this immaculate area.

The strange black hedgehog had taken me off the streets... I thought that he was too hostile for that sort of kindness. I checked my surroundings and decided that although the room didn't have much care in it, such as the peeling wallpaper- and were those _bullet holes_ in the ceiling?- anyway, at least I wasn't waking up to a kick in the face by a thug. I've been there, it's not fun.

Movement in the corner of my eye startled me, and I quickly calmed myself, my throat stinging. At discovering what was there, I sighed at my own stupidity.

It was my reflection in a mirror.

I looked the same as I always, my hair always looked ruffled thanks to my part-Mobian nature. Long ivory strands bushed and fluffed to the small of my back, but two large strands of black Mobian cat framed my face, curved and split like antlers, or mandibles of a beetle. Cresting this mess was a pair of black, fluffy cat ears, but these were of course covered over with a puffy lilac beret. My hair was so bushy that it was impossible to see any signs of where my human ears would have been if I had them, so there was no suspicion of my true nature unless the person was specifically looking.

I also wore a light green wooly jumper that kept me warm and also covered my shoulders, which were criss-crossed with fading white claw marks from Mephiles' attacks. Mainly, though, the most significant and unfading scars were on my neck. A tattered, ashen grey scarf hid the marks as well as adding an extra layer of protection for where I was most vulnerable. Then I simply wore some baggy beige trousers that ended just below my knees and white sneakers.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

I jumped and nearly fell over in shock, but someone grabbed my hand and pulled me back upright. Opening my eyes that had squeezed shut in anticipation of a fall, I saw it was the same hedgehog from before that I had followed.

"You know, you should really be more aware of your surroundings. That way you won't get a heart attack every time someone talks." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

I just looked away. He would never understand, and I would never be able to tell him.

"Now, you've wasted quite a lot of my time by pulling that little stunt. You were passed out so long I thought you would never wake up. Why are you so damn persistent? How long were you waiting for me to turn up?" He glared at me, and my heart pounded.

After regaining my composure, I held up three fingers.

"Three minutes?"

He actually thought I only waited three minutes, despite me collapsing with exhaustion? I shook my head, almost amused.

"Three hours? That's kinda patient for a kid your age."

I shook my head again, shuffling my feet.

"... Did you stay in that same spot from when I left to when I came back..?" He sounded oddly intrigued, and I nodded my head.

"That's border lining on insane, kid." He turned to the side, deep in thought. "...I don't even think that _Amy_ would do that! Three days in the same spot. Crazy human..." He muttered, but my acute hearing picked it up.

"Anyway, now that you're rested up, you are free to leave." This statement sounded much more like an order.

I gave a small sigh and looked around for the door. Once spotting it, I reached up for the handle and managed to turn it after I went on tiptoes. Another big push opened the door just slightly, and I wondered why it was so heavy. I then realised the door was made of thick wood, and that I was also very weak from not eating and drinking for days on end.

Not letting this phase me, I pushed as hard as I could and managed to make the door open just enough to let me through.

The living room was quite large and was furnished richly. Everything looked well cared for, and was usually either red or black.

The hedgehog escorted me out of the house, then shut the door behind him with a harsh slam. I sighed in defeat.

Realising that I had just lost my only lead towards the timeline change, I was going to have to leave that mystery unsolved.

I decided to wander randomly further into the city. I checked my pockets to see if there was any change in there I could use, but this search only came up with a single ring. I sighed, knowing that the cheapest shops sold their smallest items at five or ten rings.

I was going to have to look on the ground for any change I could possibly find so I wouldn't starve. Although the hedgehog had catered for my exhaustion, he hadn't thought of at least giving me something to eat or drink. Luckily, it started raining, and I found a rock that had an indentation, holding a sip of water at a time, so that solved my thirst problem. I stayed under the cover of a restaurant umbrella, watching the downpour and taking my sip from the rock, until the rain stopped.

By then, I heard a clang as a door opened, and saw one of the restaurant's staff heading towards me angrily, so I ran off quickly. I wouldn't want to taint his _lovely_ restaurant's reputation with my_ filthy_ presence, would I? After all, keeping up a posh image was _much_ more important than helping a child in poverty... Even though they throw away so much food just because they deliberately made more than they needed... Selfish people.

I wasted so much time trying to get answers from that hedgehog. So much time I could have been doing something that would help me in the afterlife, or solve the mystery of the timelines. Instead, I was running away from an angry manager whilst my stomach complained about the lack of food... Again.

I couldn't believe that this was Station Square. When I had a life, I thought Station Square was an amazing place filled with wonderful things like hot dog stands and candy stores. Then again, I was five. Now, just two years later, it was a place full of selfish people too busy with their own lives to look around them.

I spotted a human boy even younger than me, wearing tattered rags and a dirt-smeared face. Other people just walked around him, some even kicking him aside. I knew at least I wasn't that far into street life yet.

I still had a lot more than this kid. My eyes flickered to the ring in my hand, then back to the boy.

Back to the ring. Back to the boy.

Despite my body screaming at me, both my moral compass and my hopes for heaven convinced me to walk up to him, give him the ring, and smile. His mouth dropped open at the gift and he struggled to form a sentence.

"Th-th-thank y-you... I won't forget your kindness!" He beamed, then ran into a house, slamming the door behind him. "Mom! Someone gave me a ring!" I heard his voice ring out.

He had a _family_. I didn't. He had a _house_. I didn't. I couldn't just take the ring back, so I mentally smacked myself and moved on. My optimistic thinking cost me the only money I had.

I reached a part of the city where more and more people crowded, and soon I was struggling through hordes of businessmen, tourists, and shoppers.

I could hardly hear myself think with the amount of noise coming from the crowd, until I heard a rushing sound. Everyone else seemed to know what to do and stepped either one way or the other, but I only realised a blue blur was heading near me at high speed when I was knocked over. My hands flew to my hat, and after I made sure no one had seen my ears, sighed. I was sick of being thrown around. The blue blur made a U-Turn back for me until it stopped, revealing a blue hedgehog with green eyes looking down at me cheerily.

"Sorry, kid, my bad!" He helped me up, and as soon as I was standing, he gave me a thumbs up and a wink, then rushed off again, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in his wake.

That, I thought, was really odd. Why would he carry on running at such a ridiculous speed after he had knocked someone down? I searched my hand for a reside of aura and got a very strong reading, almost careless. Name, Sonic the Hedgehog. Profession, Hero of Mobius. Powers, super speed. Favourite food, chilli dogs. He had just eaten one. Odd reading.

I shrugged, until I reread the part about him being a hero. I then did a doubletake of where he had gone and groaned. He was kind, he had a lot of money and he was good with people my age. I should have held him up in some way and convinced him to help me. Then again, that wouldn't be the most humble way of getting help.

I hated having to choose between survival and what was right. If only someone was kind enough to lend a hand...

The smell of cooking reached me and surrounded me in mocking glory.

I realised I was walking into a food court and prepared to test my willpower to the limit. There were stands and shops full of different types of food. Pasta, pizza, curry, Chinese, hot dogs, burgers, and many, many more. I hated to be rude, but the place was full of fat people. My searching turned to jealous glaring before I shook my head and carried on. The presences of all these overweight gluttons were a _serious_ problem to my morality scale. I wanted to steal food from them, but I knew stealing was wrong. With heavy reluctance, I tore my eyes away from the food court and headed out of that part of town. I could see people giving me looks, and I momentarily panicked, wondering if my tail was out or something. I checked, and it was still curled and hidden beneath my jumper. Confused, I carried on until a passer-by approached me.

"Where are your parents, kid?" He asked. Thinking quickly, I pointed in the direction I was going and gave a friendly, unpanicked smile, despite the fact that internally I was frantic. The man looked me up and down before shrugging and telling me to stay by their side. With this, I made my way out of sight and let out a relieved sigh. That was too close for my liking. I could have been taken to an orphanage, and I knew how bad those could be.

I realised that if I was going to help matters, I had to get myself some money. I knew that many people were willing to give a few rings to anyone who did them a favour, so I decided to send out an aura search for people who needed a bit of help.

I didn't fully extend the search, because I learned something that both shocked me and angered me.

The black hedgehog was _right behind me._

I whirled around before he could disappear again, and gave him a glare that could only be translated as _'What the hell!?'_

In response, he rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed for being caught in the act.

"Okay, I know I got angry at _you_ for following _me_, but you can't seriously expect I would just let a kid walk off into the city on her own. That's crazy."

I got very frustrated at this. He had seen my every move and yet he hadn't bothered to help me. I dug my hands into my pockets as if to prove a point.

"That was your own choice to hand over that ring. If you're gonna try to live in the streets then you can't be so selfless. That's a one way ticket to death." He advised, but he didn't know anything. I wouldn't mind dying. I would be doing something right. Then again, my natural instinct for survival was making things difficult. I wondered what would happen to me depending on what path I chose. A life of prosperity at the cost of morality, or vice versa? Especially if the morality included starving to death, because I already had gone through too much long, painful suffering to deal with that...

"Are you even listening to me?" The hedgehog's words cut into my soliloquy. I then nodded, trying to cast an image of an attentive pupil at school.

"Then what did I just say?" He questioned without thinking. In reply, I gave him a glare and turned away. He looked at me curiously, wondering why I reacted to his question like that, then realisation crossed over him.

"Oh." Was all that he muttered, barely enough to suffice as an apology.

"Anyway, what I was saying... A kid like you shouldn't be living on the streets. I'm assuming that your parents are unavailable or they wouldn't be letting this happen." He added, ignoring my hurtful gaze.

"There's gotta be an orphanage here somewhere..." He started, but I frantically shook my head and stepped away from him. He groaned.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" He complained. I raised an eyebrow. _He_ was the one who was following me. He should have kept to himself if he wasn't going to help.

"Just give me a moment to think of something..." He turned away, and started muttering. Despite his attempts at secrecy, I could hear exactly what he was saying. Chalk up another point for cat ears.

"Maybe I could drop her off at that rabbit's house, she's good with kids... Then again, maybe that would mean too many kids to handle... Amy? No, she'd probably hug her to death and suffocate her..."

My eyes widened. Amy sounded like some sort of demon.

"Rouge would probably give her too much alcohol and I think only Chaos knows what would happen then..."

I was starting to _seriously_ doubt my safety.

"I don't think Silver and Blaze would know what to do, and besides, too much trouble to get there... That pretty much rules off every female figure... Great."

So he was stereotyping that only females could care for a kid?

"Tails is practically the same age as her and is always busy with machines... Knuckles _definitely_ wouldn't appreciate her at all... Faker's always running off like an idiot and would never be there to keep her out of trouble... The Chaotix? No. They're having enough financial difficulty as it is, they don't need another freeloader... That doesn't leave many people. Oh, for the love of Chaos, I'm the only one who doesn't have something wrong with me!"

Oh really? Try _'too violent to tolerate the presence of a seven year old'_ or _'too bad tempered and uncaring to actually keep her happy'_...

"Oh, Chaos, what have I got myself into this time? Am I really the only alternative?!"

No. God, _please_ no.

"...I guess I just have to deal with this until I can ship her off somewhere. Gah."

Oh, no.

"Hey, kid! You're staying with me!"

And that's why Mama always said _'be careful what you wish for'_... Because it comes back to bite you in the- wait, language. Even if it's only in my head.

"So... Uh... The ground's quite dusty, so you should be able to write in it..." He suggested awkwardly, and I looked down and scuffed at the ground, seeing he was right.

"It's not like I'll use it or anything, but I think I'm required to know your name."

I sighed and got ready to spell it out. I had a huge full name, so I just wrote my first name.

_Tirrikatriona._

"That's... Way too long. I'm not even sure how to pronounce that."

I quickly scuffed out the _'kat'_ part to avoid any clues to what secrets were under the hat.

"Tirririona? Still too long. How about... We just take away this_ 'riri'_ bit here..." He scuffed it out, joining in on this odd naming process.

"Tirona? No..." He mused. "I've got it! Tira?"

I nodded happily. It sounded way better and shorter. If I had given him my full name it would have been Tirrikatriona Rosalina Adeline-Hunt.

It was rather a mouthful. I don't know_ what_ my parents were thinking, giving me a full name of fourteen syllables. Now this hedgehog had given me two syllables, that was it. However, I was sick of referring to him as just a black hedgehog, so I pointed at him, giving him the _'permission to speak'_ sign.

"You're asking my name? That's classified."

I gave him a pleading look, one that always worked on Papa, whilst secrectly thinking _'you have got to be kidding me'_.

All I had to do was look him in the eye with the tiniest frown, and tear up just enough to give my eyes a sparkle. Underneath the hat, my ears also drooped out of habit.

"An expression like that isn't going to work." He muttered, taking a deep breath. I could tell he was getting pretty mad.

I didn't break eye contact, but made sure not to stray into soul contact. Sometimes it was difficult to control, but I continued, tearing up a tiny bit more, before he growled in utter annoyance.

"Fine! What harm will it do... You would have found out anyway." He rolled his eyes. "I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

I nodded, secretly laughing that I had at least annoyed him enough to make him cave.

This was going to be interesting.


	4. Distrusting Glares

Chapter 4- Distrusting Glares

What have I gotten myself into now!?

The moment I let the human set foot inside my house again, I was thinking of ways to get her out. I was not going to tolerate some kid running round, knocking things over, touching everything in sight-

Time to stop the problem before it starts.

"Right, rule number one. Don't touch anything there-" I pointed to a table where there were neat piles of G.U.N paperwork.

"-Don't touch anything here-" I motioned to the kitchen, where various dangerous utensils were left out. The girl started to look bored, so I finished quickly before she stopped listening.

"-you know what? Let's just say that if I haven't said that you can touch something, don't. Am I fully understood?"

She nodded, then just... stood there.

"Okay, rule number two, you are allowed to walk around the house. Don't run." I added, exasperated. I swear that she was mocking me.

"Rule number three, don't go in that room, ever, under any circumstances." I pointed to my weapon room. If she got in there, she would probably be dead within seconds, and I didn't want to have to deal with a dead body to clean up. Knowing my luck, it would probably reach G.U.N.

She shuffled her feet and looked at the floor, and I wondered what that meant. If she kept doing it, it must have had a specific meaning. But what? If I didn't find out soon, it was going to drive me crazy. I hated not knowing the answers. I had already gone through amnesia and the frustration nearly made me go on a rampage. If I had to live with this human for more than a day then I had to crack her code, or was bound to lose it at some point.

What the hell had I gotten myself into? If Maria wanted me to give the people a chance to be happy, then I was certainly pushing my limits. Part of me wanted to kick the girl out the door and forget I ever saw her, but Maria...

Screw it. Maria had better be watching this.

By the time I snapped out of my thinking, the girl had disappeared. Various curses shouted in my head as I frantically checked nothing was broken or gone. Everything checked all-clear, except the location of the human herself. Did she leave? No, I would have heard the door. Or maybe she used her aura powers to leave quietly like Espio?

Oh, hell no. If she was gonna stay, I was going to make her stay.

Finally, I saw she was sat down in the corner if the living room, curled up to take up as little room as possible. I stared down at her for a second before her eyes met mine, and she quickly got up with an apologetic glance.

"Okay, as long as you don't jump up and down on it, you can sit on the couch." I permitted reluctantly.

All other thoughts left my mind as I realised that I had G.U.N work today. In about ten minutes.

Oh, great. She was going to wreck the house the moment I left, I knew it. But I couldn't just babysit the kid and miss work. The Commander looked for any excuse to dock my pay, and I was never late. Then again, leaving her alone would be a serious problem.

And yet... Now she was in a relatively safe environment, she was no longer at risk of being attacked. And she was very patient- for all I knew, she did nothing but sit and occasionally poke the ground.

Time to test her patience again. She had waited three days in the same spot, surely she could wait a few hours.

I walked over to the girl and stared at her, and she immediately got off the couch. I knew that I could use that command later, but I wanted to test how well she could follow orders without needing words. I pointed to a spot on the floor and she tentatively walked over to it. I then clicked my fingers and pointed down, and she cocked her head before slowly sitting down.

"Hmph. Just like training a dog." I remarked dryly, and she gave me a glare. I noticed her reactions to being called a dog, and memorised that too. It would come in useful for taunts if necessary.

"Anyway, I need to go to work. I'll be back in a few hours, so just sit there and don't break anything." With this I concentrated on the front entrance of G.U.N and mentally gave the command. With a bright flash, the surroundings changed to concrete and metal.

Immediately sentry turrets pointed at me and followed my every move, but I knew that they weren't going to shoot unless there was a good reason. I approached the main entrance and stopped next to a guard.

"Agent Shadow. Badge and identity card."

I handed over said items, and the soldier scanned them before nodding and handing them back.

"Proceed." With this command, the metal panel slid up and the second entrance was revealed- a solid tonne of blast-proof rock. With a second input sequence, this ground open and I stepped inside.

"Hey, Shadow! What took you so long?" I heard from above. I looked up to see Rouge hanging from the ceiling right above the entranceway.

"You know, if you keep doing that, security will start thinking that you're up to something." I called up, before Rouge flipped and started hovering just above me.

"Up to something? Me? Why would they think that?" She proclaimed, twirling.

"From experience. It's not the first time." I countered, and Rouge frowned. She landed in front of me and brushed herself off despite the fact that there was no dust on her.

"I would have thought that all these years working together would at least get you to trust me." She complained, before smirking. "You're no fun."

I clenched my fists, before calming myself and focusing on the matter at hand.

"If you don't mind," I growled, "I need to actually do my job."

"No need! I've already been briefed to work with you today!"

I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm.

"What are they telling me to do this time?" I sighed reluctantly. At this, Rouge lost her cheer.

"Paperwork sorting."

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in that case, GUN can fu-"

"-Geez, Shadow! You don't have to be constantly swearing all the time!" Rouge exclaimed, however still keeping a smirk.

"What's so funny?"

"You."

I facepalmed. Of course she was making fun of me.

"Can we just get this crap over with?" I groaned.

"Okay, Shadz!" She cheerily answered.

"That's not my name." I contradicted.

"I know that!" She giggled, before flying off. Shaking my head, I followed her.

After two hours of incessant boredom and aggravation, I finally managed to put the last scrap of paper in a folder and have it carted off to the relevant security vault.

"That was fun!" Rouge exclaimed in mock cheer.

"If I don't get a proper assignment soon, someone is going to die. Painfully." I answered bluntly.

"Go to your happy place, Shadow." Rouge replied with a smirk.

"What, you mean my weapon room back home? If only I had brought my pistol today..." I answered, fully knowing she was just trying to annoy me.

"Well, nobody knows about that room, so feel free to go and shoot something. If that's seriously what you do in your spare time."

I then remembered that I had that human in my house. Now I couldn't go home and shoot something, because I would probably get reported somehow. I don't know how, but it would happen.

With a frustrated groan, I turned my back on Rouge and headed for the exit.

"Shadow? What's got you so riled up? Did I overdo it?" Rouge's concerned tone cut into my thoughts.

"I just need to deal with a problem at home." I answered vaguely, trying to shake her off. Despite Rouge being an invaluable companion, she also knew just how to annoy me, and I didn't want to waste any more time. That kid had probably gotten into a whole lot of trouble already.

"Well, if you need any help, feel free to give me a call. I'll always be free to help out my favorite Mr. Sunshine!"

That statement put my teeth on grind.

"Rouge. Never do that again." Was my only farewell.

I cautiously opened my front door, preparing for images of mayhem and a bawling kid. The hinges squealed in protest as I pushed, until I could peek inside.

All clear.

Relief washed over me as I checked that everything was in the same position as before, apart from the presence of the girl herself. I quickly searched the rooms until I found her in the guest room, curled on the bed, fast asleep. She wasn't under the covers, she had instead bunched them to make a ridge around her, almost like a pet bed.

For a moment, I just stared at her, looking at the way she occasionally twitched or batted at things in the middle of a dream, and how she would occasionally frown and curl tighter protectively, before giving a tiny sigh and smiling. As I reached out to prod her, one of her fingers brushed against mine and she pounced on my hand playfully- just as an instinct.

I knew then that this human was certainly the strangest I had ever come across.

Odd circumstances. Odd sleeping habits. Odd disability. Odd attitude. Odd powers. Odd mentality.

Odd kid.

But then again, odd meant she stayed put. Odd meant she would never make a single annoying sound.

Odd wasn't that bad.

At least it meant no annoying sounds. If it weren't for my acute hearing, I wouldn't even know she was there.

Right then, her stomach growled loudly, almost as if to contradict me. I realised that I was going to have to feed her as well, plus figure out how much of my money I was going to have to spend on her. Despite all my efforts in saving the world, the massive handouts of 'thank you' cash always went to Sonic or his friends. The population of Mobius never questioned if there was someone else apart from their beloved 'Blue Blur' actually working.

Because of this, I often found myself short on funds- possibly due to the amount of health and safety fines I had to pay to maintain my gun collection. Still, it was an extremely unfair situation just because the world didn't trust me. Then again, if it weren't for Maria's promise, I wouldn't give a damn about them.

I was startled out of my thoughts when I saw the girl stretch and silently yawn. I rolled my eyes and left her alone, not wanting to be staring at her when she fully woke up. Knowing my luck, she would probably freak out and destroy something.

With resignation, and yet surprising tolerance, I decided to let her stay in that room. I never used it and she seemed to keep coming back. As long as she kept up her ways of doing nothing, it wouldn't be quite as bad as I imagined. Plus, it was a guest room- but that would imply that there were guests who slept there, so I guess she was the only one. Therefore, that would technically mean it was 'her' room. I still wasn't giving her the luxury of using a name, just for the sake of it. I didn't really care.

As I sat on the couch, I deliberated how this was going to work out. On one hand, I held the responsibilities of having to care for the human, including watching over her to keep her out of trouble. On the other, this particular human could sit alone and unmoving for hours and even days on end, meaning I could just leave her in the house while I worked and only have to give her basic survival provisions, meaning next to no effort and no hastle.

I considered my options. It was much easier to leave the human alone, but a young child like that would need some form of care outside of basic survival. However, I wasn't even for a moment considering any kind of affection.

Humans were all the same inside, no matter what differences they held they still knew how to manipulate and backstab. And just from that attempt to look adorable and pleading earlier, I knew this girl was already proficient in her ways. Add to that the ability to read aura, and she was downright dangerous. If I let down my guard, she would know all my secrets, everything I hid from society. And she would probably note it all down and send it straight to Commander 'childhood enemy' Towers. I didn't know how that was even possible due to the amount of secrecy involved in G.U.N, but somehow, it would happen. Somehow.

My acute hearing picked up on the tiniest creaks from the floorboards, and I knew that little pryer was awake and loose. As I turned to see her creeping through the hallways, I locked eyes with her. She at first returned it blankly, but then looked confused and finally started getting nervous.

Only one thought was in my head.

I know what you're trying to do, human.


	5. Conflict and Setbacks

Chapter 5: Conflict and Setbacks

I opened my eyes and saw only darkness.

Realising that I was dreaming, I quickly got up and fortified my mind, preparing for the usual routine of what happened when I fell asleep willingly. It was always the same dream, only with slight variations.

Just on schedule, an unearthly light pierced through the dark in aslowly spreading explosion of destruction. I ran, knowing that it drowned away everything in it's path. I just hoped this time I could outrun the disaster before it hit me.

I kept my gaze fixed anywhere but the light and sprinted, keeping a lookout for any obstacles that would cause the same old tripping over and defeat, only to snag myself on a shard of dark crystal that jutted out of the ground. Just like every single dream, I was thrown to the floor, and could only watch as the accursed light grew closer and closer.

"Katie! Get up!" This panicked shout startled me, and I turned to see my sister running back towards me.

"No! Run, Luna! He'll get you too!" The words sprang from my mouth, my own voice sounding alien to me.

"I won't leave you, little sis! Hold on, I'm coming!" With this, my sister, with a full name of Luitiana Nightshade Adeline-Hunt, grabbed my hand.

She would never get me out in time. It was just a replay of what had happened, all those years ago, only trading natural surroundings with darkness.

With a final scream, the light crashed over us like a vengeful wave, and my hand fell out of hers. I pounced back, trying to get it back, trying to save my sister, but she lost the grasp. All I could do was watch as my sister, the beautiful midnight-haired girl with clear blue eyes, was torn away from me.

With one familiar malicious laugh echoing through the dark, she was gone.

I shuddered, taking back my hold on reality as I stretched, hearing footsteps that reinforced my conscious effort to remain awake. I checked I was still safe and sound inside of Shadow's home. Opening my eyes, I saw the same grey sheets, the bullet holes in the ceiling with no explanation, the peeling wallpaper. When I was content that was so, I patted down the covers to get them out of their heaped, cat-bed state. Making sure that my troublemaker tail was once again secure with a quick shake, I walked quietly into the main living room.

Shadow, who was on the couch, turned to see what the sound was and fixed his gaze on me. Firstly, I just thought that he was looking at me in a way of greeting, but as he continued staring, I started wondering if I did something wrong.

I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all. I wished he would stop, it was almost as if he was deliberately unnerving me.

I broke the eye contact and nervously looked at the floor, shuffling my feet as I did so. When I felt that he was still glaring at me, I began to get scared. What had I done wrong? Was I not meant to fall asleep? Did he find something out about me? What did he want!?

After a few more seconds, Shadow finally stopped, and I sighed in relief. I always hated when people stared at me. I always jumped to the conclusion that I had done something wrong.

I tentatively made my way to the couch and sat down on the other end, as far from Shadow as possible but still showing him I wasn't afraid to be within metres of his presence. Just because I was just a kid and mute didn't mean I was a coward. I could stick up for myself. Most of the time.

"Hey." Shadow's voice startled me out of my thinking.  
"When I stared at you like that, I noticed how uncomfortable you were with it. Do you know that every time you read someone's aura, you're doing the same thing but ten times worse?"

This information shocked me. If that was the case, it was no wonder why everyone sensed it. Not to mention I felt guilty for putting that amount of stress on people.

I quickly turned to Shadow and gave him the 'I'm sorry' gesture. He rolled his eyes in response.

"It's not me you should be apologising to." He then looked back at me. "I mean, how many people have you just read, not caring about their privacy or anything, just for a chance to get some information about them that might not even be useful?"

I shot him a quizzical look. You could only read the book if you opened the page. And plus, how else was I supposed to find anything out? Was I just supposed to walk up to them, smile sweetly and expect them to just randomly pour out information? Even if I could talk, what was I supposed to say, 'Excuse me, sir, but have you done anything evil recently?' Not likely.

"Then again, I guess a human your age is just naturally sticking your nose into business that doesn't concern you." He continued smugly. "Those aura powers of yours are only used to snoop, not for anything useful. Talk about a total waste of potential."

I was getting pretty annoyed with Shadow. He was taking his insults too far, and ignoring anything good I had done.

Shadow almost seemed to be thinking of what to say next, and paused before smirking.

"I find it rather interesting how you can't even act generally normal. You act like a dog. That's just stupid."

Oh... It is ON.

I gave him a glare, and, almost as if this gave him an excuse, he launched the final insult.

"...Didn't your parents ever tell you not to stare?"

There was a mocking undertone to his voice. With that, he had just dropped the last straw.

He was going to pay for that.

I turned to him with the most vicious glare I could possibly give, and poured anger and heartbreak into it to try and make him pay for his cruelty. I paid no regard to what he had done to help me. He had crossed the line, and he hadn't treated me like I should have. I was starving, for Chaos' sake! He must have realised that if he was following me, so he must have just been too lazy and uncaring to even bother to give me a single scrap of leftovers! And now he had knowingly mocked me about a family he knew I didn't have.

This meant war.  
He countered with his own glare, and the battle was on.

"You seriously think you can stand against me!?" He mocked, but this time he used a menacing growl.

I tilted my head down slowly and narrowed my eyes, taking him on boldly, rolling up my sleeves for action. I had finally had enough of his attitude, and the amount of time wasted.

"You'll never win this battle! No one challenges me and leaves unharmed!" He roared, letting his mocking be consumed by his own anger. I promptly got up from the couch to get a more superior position, and he mirrored me, gaining a height advantage and an easier opening for attack.

He obviously didn't expect me to make the first move. I aimed low, knocking him off balance, but that only aroused a snarl. He did a complicated spin on the ground that not only knocked me to the floor, but caused a small tornado that tossed me over. Not letting this combat technique phase me, I quickly scrambled to get up, but received a winding tackle, sending us both tumbling backwards. Through luck alone, my hat managed to somehow stay on, but the distraction of keeping myself covered meant I couldn't fully dodge a punch aimed for my face. Instead, it hit me square in the shoulder, and I gasped in pain. Shadow wasn't at all new to violent approaches, and he certainly wasn't holding back.  
Despite him getting a hit, I thrashed back at him and managed to somehow hit him in the chest, then kick him in the shin. He quickly countered by knocking me down again, then kicking me mercilessly whilst I was down, causing an agonising pain to explode through my ribs.  
I bit my bottom lip until it nearly bled to stop myself from crying out in pain, but my breathing was hindered and I had to cough. Each shudder sent another searing pain in my throat, and I wasn't sure if the blood I coughed up was from my chest injury or the act of coughing itself. Either way, I was in serious pain, but I gritted my teeth and stood up shakily, still maintaining my glare whilst wiping the blood from my mouth. I wasn't going to give up because he had landed a good hit. He seemed not to have expected this kind of resistance and almost looked impressed, until I tensed for another attack. He was going to have to see what I was capable of withstanding.

I wasn't just going to throw myself on the ground and throw a crying tantrum because he hurt me, I was going to show him that I had survived both mental and physical torture more than he would ever have known. Surely no one would ever go though more than me.

I clenched my fists and made sure he knew I wasn't out for the count yet. He responded with an eye roll, a smirk and a teleport. I knew that his tactic was definitely to get behind me, so I turned around to meet him head-on... But he saw that coming and had already teleported to my now unguarded back. He grabbed my arms and got them pinned behind me, but I once again kicked him in the shin, and his grip loosened on my right arm, which I shook free quickly. However, as I tried to do the same with my left, he grabbed my wrist in one hand and my elbow in the other. Without mercy or care, he sharply twisted.

The following brittle snap brought a grinding halt to my efforts.

I hissed in pain, squeezing my eyes shut as I harshly breathed, gritting my teeth and not giving him the satisfaction of hearing a single whimper. Despite my arm being bended in places that really didn't naturally fit, I still struggled and finally managed to get myself out of the grip. My sight flew to the injury and I realised that my hand really wasn't meant to be pointing that angle, and neither was the rest of my lower arm. He had completely broken and dislocated the bone.

I felt pained tears well up in my eyes, but catching the smug look from Shadow, I restrained them from falling, determined not to give him the satisfaction. His smirk was replaced by a frown, almost disappointed that I wasn't acting my age.

I had gone through worse. It was just that I had now gotten a broken arm, that would make blending into the crowds impossible. Basically, he had screwed up my cover and labelled me as someone to be noticed.

That... That bastard.

As the curse echoed in my mind, i couldnt help but feel guilty at using it. If my mother had heard me say that...  
But I guess that Mother wasn't there, and neither was my voice.

Since the fight had positioned us close to the door, I opened it, then turned back to him with the most hateful glare I could summon.

This wasn't over.

I at first had thought that there had been a lighter side to Shadow. I thought that I just had to work on playing to that good side and giving him the benefit of the doubt. Now, I knew he was a violent, merciless monster who had an inflated ego. And yet, before, I had believed this hedgehog was capable of emotion. Now, I had learned something , as my body shook from pain- bone-crunching, bruising pain, rather than organised cuts and clawing.

Yes, Shadow was different to Mephiles, however I had a theory. Those two shared their merciless ways and violent tendencies, only with different methods. They had to be related somehow. Either that, or this 'safer' timeline had created an alternate version of Mephiles that was more likely to fit within society- possibly to avoid a repeat of anything that may have happened that caused time to reset.

Either way, this hedgehog was evil, and I needed to get to a hospital or something. I was battered and bruised, my arm was horrifically broken, and I believed I had cracked a few ribs.

I slammed the door behind me, strode past a few houses, and then sent out an aura pulse, searching for injured people, hoping to find some sort of facility where I could get my arm checked out. Failing to find anything at the hundred metre mark, I focused and sent out a more powerful one, using my emotions to fuel it.

At the failure of this, my patience had finally run dry, so I created the most powerful one possible, pouring in ever ounce of pain, hatred and hardship into a visible sphere of light, then slammed this onto the ground, causing almost a shockwave to erupt.

I think I may had possibly made it too powerful.

Information flooded through me, and I found myself getting personal information without meaning to, and absorbing it all into one huge information bank that was viewed quickly and without my control. Images of people's lives flickered through in split seconds, as there was no focus to the actual data search.

I didn't get my intended result, but behind me, Shadow's strong barrier had been forgotten over the anger. Without meaning to, I focused oh him, and the knowledge search penetrated lines of mental defense, only after Shadow must have realised and quickly reinforced did I manage to stop the process. I felt dizzy as a vision of the past overcame me, the world fading to black as I closed my eyes.

Through Shadow's memory, I saw a faded image of the stars seen through a large window. They seemed to spiral and move, and as they turned I saw Mobius. He was somehow in space from what I deducted, and the metallic surroundings suggested some sort of spaceship.

I felt his emotions- suffering from being cut off, and sensing his wish to see what was in that world he saw so far away.

Then, from his hearing- surprisingly acute for a Mobian hedgehog- I detected light footsteps approaching. The viewpoint turned to a smiling young lady, blonde haired with sapphire blue eyes.

"I knew I would find you here, Shadow! This window always has the ARK's best view of Mobius!" She cheerily explained. Her voice was light and sweet as an angel.

Through his senses, I discovered that Shadow was... happy. And smiling back. It was possibly one of the oddest things to comprehend. He opened his mouth to greet this beautiful girl, but I was too confused and panicked to try and focus.  
I withdrew my power carefully, and as the vision started to fade into black, I heard the actual Shadow murmur a name.

"Maria..."


	6. Confusion and Revelations

Chapter 6- Confusion and Revelation

What... was... that?

That memory had completely thrown off everything I knew about Shadow.

Everything.

Why did it all have to be so complicated? One minute he was a violent child abuser and the next he was suddenly all smiley next to a pretty girl. It made no sense. This memory of 'Maria' didn't fit the identity I had pieced together, in fact it had only served to muddle it up all over again.

Ugh. What was going on? I wanted to leave and never see him again but at the same time Shadow's mystery pulled me in. It was just ridiculous.

I had to set my priorities. Firstly, find a hospital. Secondly, figure out a way to get free treatment. Thirdly, think up a way to avoid the 'parents' question. That was going to be difficult, but I certainly wasn't going to just move on. The injuries I had received would make me crippled as well as mute if left unchecked, and that was the last thing I needed.

I made my way into Station Square, rolling my sleeves back down. I was lucky that I had such puffy and baggy clothing, or things would have been found out quickly. As it went, my arm still looked slightly disfigured under the veil of wool.

Step one, find a hospital.

I firstly thought of using the pulse technique, but that had proven its flaws pretty clearly. Therefore, I tried a lower profile technique- the stupid tourist. I was going to blend into the crowd and follow in one unit, then look at the road signs and map displays until I saw a hospital. At least that way I seemed pretty normal.

I put the plan into use, and about fifteen minutes later I realised it wasn't really working. I separated from the crowd, then tried to find a small place, caving to using the occasional pulse just to try and find somewhere.

Finally, after an hour or so, I managed to hone in on a reading that sent me to a building. At least from the outside it looked like a hospital, and that was a start.  
It was quite out of the way from the main city, a smaller and dirtier place than I had hoped, but that only meant it would be easier for me to get access. The security was bad, the doors weren't fully attached to the hinges and the smell of something that didn't seem quite right wafted out, but it was a hospital none the less.

Step two, find a way to get treated.

It had been a few hours, and my minor visible injuries had stopped looking recent. I wanted to put on an act of staggering in, bleeding and bruised for a more emergency treatment. The bruising was there, but the bleeding was no longer. If I scratched at the cuts to reopen them the doctors would know I had done that myself. Therefore, I had to find a way to get a few simple cuts opened. There were plenty of alleyways, nightclubs, and bars nearby in this area. If I could just find a random drunk guy and provoke him into attacking me, then let him score a few hits, I would be able to bolt back to the hospital looking recently beaten up, and therefore A&E standard.

One walk to the nearest bar later, I saw a couple who were obviously drunk. The man was arguing about completely random things whilst the woman kept swearing and slapping him. Although I really didn't appreciate the language, this was just what I needed. I simply went over to them, then 'accidentally' knocked the drink out of his hand whilst stepping on his foot. He immediately whirled around with a growl, and I gave him a teasing smile whilst gesturing him to come at me. That was all he needed to go wild. He swung at me and landed a blow to my head, luckily weak, and a harsher blow to my ribs, which quickly knocked the smile off my face.

Time to peg it.

With due haste, I led the now furious couple through the streets in typical Yakety Sax fashion, often having to backtrack to keep their attention and even having to outright trip the man over.  
Eventually, I was making my way back to the hospital until we were within range of the security cameras. I then cowered and acted like I had no clue how to retaliate, taking on the role of a victim. I saw the cameras point my way after a few more painful hits, and I hoped to Chaos someone would stop the drunkards. It was all very well causing a commotion to get free admittance, but I could only take so many hits. It got pretty serious when the woman produced a bottle and smashed it on me, causing shards to rake my skin. I shuddered at the all-too-familiar feeling of crystal- or in this case glass, cutting and embedding into me.

Now I started to believe this was a bad idea.

Luckily, I started hearing shouts from the hospital, and felt grabbing hands pulling away the drunkards and getting me to safety. I was taken into the hospital with no further argument, and was quickly laid on an oversized stretcher. Maybe I had overdone it, because I was pretty sure that I didn't have a single reopened cut or any skin that wasn't bruised. As I looked up, acting dazed, I saw a mirror that showed I had recieved a cut on my left cheek, bruises all down my unbroken arm, and gashes on my side and chest which could still contain glass shards. Add to that the horrifically broken arm and a ribcage that felt torn open, and that pretty much totalled up to being beaten up to a hospital-worthy standard. Doctors and nurses immediately started looking at the damage, but withholding any treatment, and I decided the best thing to do was to look dazed all the time so there would be no excuse to speak. All the time, chatter and questions bounced around the room.

"Where did this kid come from?"  
"Who would do this?"  
"How did she get all these injuries?"  
"Those drunkards couldn't have done that."  
"This is horrific treatment..."  
"Where are her parents?"

Uh-oh.

"There's got to be someone responsible for this kid's safety!"  
"Would she really be left to the world like that if there was someone?"  
"I guess that's true. Another street kid?"  
"Yeah, we should probably send her to an orphanage after treatment."

Oh no. That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

Suddenly, one of the doctors waved his hand over my eyes and the quick movements fixed my cat instincts on them.

"She's aware of her surroundings!" He called, then looked back at me. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

He held up three fingers, and I mirrored him with my good arm. When he took one down, I did so too.

"Can you talk right now?" He spoke slowly and carefully like he was speaking to a child- of course, but I had matured quickly due to the reality check of losing everything, plus the quick maturity of being half cat. That was another thing about being a hybrid- the sentient quality of the Mobian parent is recessive, often leaving the child with wild instincts. For example, I had a tendency to pounce at sudden movements and a fondness for milk. And Chaos forbid letting me go in a pet store with all those catnip toys around. If my vocal chords were intact, it wouldn't be uncommon hearing small mews from me every couple of minutes, but even so I could still purr and hiss and would do so within reason.

I quickly realised the doctor had asked me a question, so I gave a pathetic cough then shook my head weakly.

"Okay. I'm going to ask you some questions. Can you please do one tap for yes and two taps for no?"

I tapped once, understanding his little procedure.

"Is there anyone who cares for you?"

I lied and tapped 'yes', to start making up a story that would complete step three.

"Do you know where they are?"

I tapped 'no', putting on a worried face.

"Did those nasty people with the bottles do all this?"

I tapped 'yes', although I felt guilty putting all the blame on a bunch of drunkards. The doctor looked unsure, so I got eye contact and repeated the single tap.

"...If you're absolutely certain..." He reluctantly stated. He then moved away as the loud sound of opening doors echoed.

The door slammed shut.

I sat alone in my house, reviewing my victory. I had broken the kid's arm, a couple of ribs too by the force of the kick.

I was still quite disappointed I couldn't get her to even shed a single tear. Then again, she was putting up much more of a fight than I had realised. Not many people had the guts to stand up to The Ultimate Lifeform. It was almost as if she knew what my tactics were as well... Almost as if she had been in a fight with someone like me before...

Either that, or she was just cleverer than I gave her credit for.

I raised an eyebrow at this thought. Why would I want to give her credit when I just, to be blunt, beat the crap out of her? I needed solid proof if I was going to give that little street rat any credit for anything.

I felt a small tremor pass through the building, that threw me off balance.

A split second later, I felt a massive assault on my mind.

I clutched my head, for a moment forgetting it was a mental attack rather than a physical one. Once I realised this was only letting the onslaught continue, I fortified my mind and halted the search in it's path. However, this didn't stop it focusing on one memory I had wanted to protect the most. The world around me faded as I once again found myself on the ARK, gazing at Mobius from afar. Then, I heard light footsteps, ones I knew could only belong to her.

I turned to see Maria Robotnik. Knowing it was only a memory, I sighed, allowing myself to relive one of the clearest memories of my past.

"I knew I would find you here, Shadow! This window always has the ARK's best view of Mobius!"

Her voice echoed sweetly in my mind, but I felt the force of the search withdraw. All too soon, the memory faded to black.

"Maria..." I murmured, trying to coax the memory back, but it was gone.

I had made a promise. The girl had just reminded me what I was capable of. That was the proof I needed...

And I had just evicted her courtesy of a brawl.

I slammed my fist against the wall in frustration.

"Can't I do anything right!?" I loudly exclaimed, not believing the irony of the situation. She was so different to anything I had ever expected or given credit for. And now I knew she could even allow proper flashbacks without the aid of a Chaos Emerald. The uses of that were unlimited.

There was only one thing to do- follow her once again.

The doctor had left my side and was now near the door. I only guessed that there was a visitor or something, maybe just lost and trying to find someone. I remember that once when I visited a hospital to see my brother, I got completely lost through the network of corridors and wards. Luckily, the staff were kind enough to guide me back, so I could find my brother Erebrius (Erus for short) and wish him a speedy recovery of the wrist he had broken from getting stuck up a tree. Ironic- cats stuck up trees.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the real and family-free hospital, there was hushed conversation that I couldn't quite pick up on. The doctor returned as another question came up, no longer directed at me.

"Is this who you're looking for?" I heard a nurse ask. I couldn't hear an answer, so I expected that I wasn't involved. The doctor looked up.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. She's with me." Shadow's voice stated, sending me into a panic.

Shadow.

Why was he here!? Did he come back to finish what he started?

"Do you know how she got like this?"

"I was taking her back home via Station Square when the Blue Blur came through. When the crowd separated, so did we. I can only guess she got pushed around until she ended up near some people who had too much to drink, and got them angry somehow. It wouldn't be difficult for someone like that to get angry, plus she doesn't have any experience of what to do when someone attacks."

He was lying and making up a full story for me. Why would he do something like that?

"Are you sure that you will be able to take her home safely?"

"Of course." I could hear how forced the enthusiasm was, and I figured out what his plan might have been.

Getting custody of me again so he could finish me off himself, perhaps? That would make sense, after all I had viewed something he obviously didn't want anyone to know.

I heard footsteps, then Shadow came into view. His eyes widened just a tiny fraction in surprise at the damage done, before turning back to the doctor.

"Good Chaos, what happened?" This was acted as well. From the slight changes in tone, I realised he knew exactly what was going on. Probably because he had been watching the entire time. And yet, once again, he didn't bother to step in for help.

Then again, why would he? If he had followed me the entire way, he would have known my plan all along.

He checked that the doctors were occupied before looking back at me.

"Alright, whatever I say, you play along. I'm gonna get you out of here."

The only response he got from me was disbelief and confusion. He rolled his eyes before continuing.

"As... intuitive... your method of free treatment was," He struggled with giving the compliment, "this is the worst excuse for a hospital in the entire city. You're only going to get hurt more if you stay here."

I raised an eyebrow at him before I picked up on an argument between staff.

"Should we give her an aspirin?"  
"I think that's just for headaches... Isn't that a broken arm there? What do we do for that again?"  
"Broken? Which one?"

My mouth dropped open. A good clue to which one would have been that my right arm was straight and relaxed whilst my left was pointing two different directions! I facepalmed and looked at Shadow in panic.

"I can treat those injuries much better than those idiots can."

Part of me believed that Shadow was a lifesaver, but the sensible part- probably my human side- warned me why I was even in the hospital in the first place. I couldn't possibly trust him to take me back. Maybe those doctors were just the untrained ones... That had to be the case.

I couldn't trust Shadow. He only wanted to finish me off or use me as a living punching bag.  
But then... Why was he so different around that Maria?

"...You don't trust me." He bluntly stated.

He could read me like a book.  
Wait... He knew how to block me... Did he know how to read minds too?

"In case you were wondering, I pick up on every little twitch that you make. You can't trust anything right now and you're unsure about me." He predicted, and I nodded in wonder. How long did he have to train in order to figure things out like that?

That meant he was trained in other things as well. Such as combat. And if he got angry...

This could become one vicious cycle.

"Hey, I know that you're very unsure about this. But you need help, and you're not going to get it by staying here. I understand that you don't trust me... And that's actually good. I wouldn't trust me. Plus, you've shown that you're not anywhere near normal. For one thing, how many humans your age wouldn't cry when things went wrong? How many would selflessly give a gift to help another despite it being the only possessions they had? How many would resist stealing despite hunger? And, not only that, but despite being put against an unbeatable force, still not yielding when it was obvious who was going to lose?"

I couldn't believe he was talking like that. It didn't make any logical sense, but I could tell he was both confused and mildly impressed at my actions and morals. Then again, calling himself 'unbeatable' reminded me of his ego. I certainly didn't want that to be contested again.

"Hey, if you were the average kid, I would rather have you dead than under my responsibility... But luckily for you, you are the strangest kid I have ever met."

Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"Anyway, I swear I'm trying to help you here. Just do what I say and everything will be just fine. You won't get hurt again."

He sounded sincere enough, so I decided to hold him to that. I held out my little finger, which gained an odd reaction. He at first stared, then gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then returned the gesture.

"I... promise."

I felt my heart skip a beat as he swore my safety. I didn't know how, but a promise from Shadow seemed to be the strongest promise there was for that fleeting moment. For a fraction of a second, Maria flashed back into mind, this time almost reinforcing his promise of safety.

Shadow glanced around the room, noticing that the doctors were still arguing, not paying attention to me. I sat up, and Shadow turned back, giving me a serious look.

"Firstly, I will need to put your arm back into the right position. It'll hurt, but not for long. Otherwise, your arm will be stuck like that and it will never stop causing you pain." Catching my worried look, he continued, trying to keep my trust.  
"I know how to fix this. It also helps that since I was the one who made it that way in the first place, I know where to put pressure on and when. I've done it before, once even on my own arm."

His certainty won me over and I nodded, letting him take a painful grip on my arm. I winced and bit my lip as I felt the twisting, but I let him. I knew he was helping, that this was a good pain. After a few more seconds, the twisting sharply peaked at a point of agony, before I felt Shadow 's grip leave.

"All done. That could have been worse."

The indifference in his voice struck me. Just what sort of job did he do to have all that experience? All he had said before was that he had to go to work. Work where?

My attention was brought to Shadow as he snapped his fingers under my nose.

"Focus, daydreamer. We need to get out of here."

Step three.

"Just let me talk to the 'doctor'. If you can even call them that."

I carefully sat up, ignoring the pain in my chest, and focused on Shadow as he interrupted the argument and called a doctor over.

At first, their conversation sounded casual, but as the topic turned to me, their voices rose to the point where I could hear it clearly.

"Sir, she's obviously still hurt, we can take care of her."

"I have plenty of medical knowledge, there's no need."

"We have plenty of first aid supplies, it will only take a few more hours and we'll have her with a good cast and plenty of band-aids."

"Do you have the experience to extract broken glass from already damaged tissue? Or even enough to tell a broken arm from a healthy one? Those two certainly don't."

"Uh, well, we're trained for emergencies and basic first aid. Those two over there are the new doctors, they've only been here for two weeks in training."

"I've trained for about four years. Therefore, I think that I can handle this better."

"We're legally obliged to treat her. Once you let us treat her and pay the fees, you're free to take her."

"I don't think that's necessary."

"It is! We need to keep her!"

There was a silence as Shadow glared at the doctor.

"Listen here. Whilst you two were having a pointless argument and ignoring her, I put her arm back in the right place! I think that puts me in a position of greater influence."

"But- but-"

"Of course, if you're unwilling to let her go with me freely..." He pulled out something and the doctor stared at it, before his eyes widened.

"Then, I am just as obliged to take her by force!" Shadow finished threateningly.

"Oh... Of course, don't let us stop you! Take her with all due haste!"

I raised an eyebrow at this sudden change in judgement. Once again, Shadow's line of work was a mystery. I could only guess that it was some sort of badge, meaning something quite important. But for now, that wasn't what needed to be focused on.

Shadow moved back to my side, almost smirking.

"Get up. We're leaving."

I followed his command quickly, wincing at the pain in my chest and arm, but carrying on nonetheless. We passed by the doctor, and he took a step back, slightly scared of Shadow. I smirked, then, in a surprising burst of childish glee, stuck my tongue out at him.

Mission accomplished, all steps complete. I grinned at this little thought.

We made our way out of the hospital, and I held my uninjured hand out for a high five.

"No." He bluntly stated, before continuing.

I frowned. Why was he so mean? I just didn't understand how he could go from murderous to moderately caring in a split second.

"This is going to take too long to get back. I'm going to Chaos Control." He explained. Catching my confused expression, he rolled his eyes and continued.

"That teleporting and disappearing. It's called Chaos Control, and I am the only being alive that has mastered it."

I disliked how he kept boasting so casually.

Suddenly, he grabbed hold of my wrist and I panicked, before he seemed to focus. I knew that look of reaching out to somewhere.

"Chaos... Control!"

With this, the world once again flashed away, but this time, I was ready and willing. Maybe, finally, this would take a turn for the better.

But seriously, if I didn't get some food soon...

Shadow had better get it right. This was his last chance.


End file.
